Study: Downey, Cerritos losing diversity

Downey and Cerritos are no longer racially balanced due to rising Latino and Asian populations, according to a USC study released Friday.

The study revealed that although Southern California cities are on average more racially balanced than they were 20 years ago, some cities are starting to become less multiracial than they used to be.

The steady decline in the share of whites and blacks in the five-county region, combined with a steady increase in the population of Hispanics, Asians and Pacific Islanders, has led to more cities becoming multiracial, particularly in Orange and Riverside counties.

The total percentage of multiracial cities in Los Angeles, Orange, Riverside, San Bernardino and Ventura counties grew to 61.5 percent in 2010, up from 51.2 percent in 1990.

The study by USC's Pop Dynamics Research Group in the Sol Price School of Public Policy defines a city as multiracial if its two largest race groups make up at least 20percent of the population, if three different races make up at least 15 percent of the city, or where the fourth-largest race group represents at least 8 percent of the population and the largest race group is no more than 55 percent. The latter is considered the most diverse type of city.

The report, "Racially Balanced Cities in Southern California, 1999 to 2010," used census data from 1990, 2000 and 2010.

"Los Angeles is leading the nation once again in this multiracial experience," said Dowell Myers, a USC professor of urban planning and demography and the study's lead author. "Right now, we're at a sweet spot for racial balance in Southern California. Decline in the white population and growth among Latinos or Asians only increases racial balance up to a point. Some cities have already started to lose their balance."

According to the census, out of 49,041 people living in Cerritos in 2010, 23.1 percent were white, 6.9 were black, 61.9 percent were Asian and 12 percent identified themselves as Hispanic or Latino.

Of Downey's population of 111,772, 56.6 percent was white, 3.9 percent was black and 7 percent was Asian, while the remainder were of other races. Among the total population, 70.7 percent was Latino.

In addition to Cerritos and Downey, three other cities in Los Angeles County - Azusa, Lawndale and Walnut - lost racial balance due to rising Latino and Asian populations.

Riverside County overtook San Bernardino County as having the highest percentage of multiracial cities. Twenty-one of the 26 cities in Riverside County were defined as multiracial in 2010, according to the study.

For the first time in recent decades, San Bernardino County had three cities with significant populations of four racial groups represented - Highland, Loma Linda and Rancho Cucamonga.

At 53.4 percent, Los Angeles County had the lowest percentage of cities with a multiracial makeup.

However, 10 of the 13 cities across the region deemed the most racially balanced were in L.A. County.